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Wildfire forces evacuations near Spain's capital

The Interior Ministry says a wildfire has forced the evacuation of 150 people from an upscale suburb northeast of Madrid and the closure of two commuter railway lines.
Spain Wildfires
A helicopter picks up water from a pond used to irrigate orange trees to fight wildfires near Segorbe, near Valencia, Spain.Alberto Saiz / AP
/ Source: The Associated Press

The Interior Ministry says a wildfire has forced the evacuation of 150 people from an upscale suburb northeast of Madrid and the closure of two commuter railway lines.

Fire broke out at 11:57 a.m. (0557 EST) in the leafy neighborhood of Torrelodones and forced the closure of lines linking the stations of Torrelodones and Las Matas.

A regional ministry office said in a statement Monday that the fire was under control by 2 p.m. (0800 EST) when police allowed residents to return home.

Ministry officials calculate that around 59,300 acres have been charred by fires that have killed six people in just over a week.

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